Mods/Upgrades while waiting out social distancing . Please share yours.

Tabulating · August 2020

Here is a list of some mods I have done to our 2018 T@b 400.

This one was done before COVID, but it is my absolute favorite. I removed the TP holder. Just four Robertson screws and we now have room for our knees when using the toilet and we no longer bump into it while showering. We just keep the TP on a shelf for travel and keep it next to the sink otherwise. So Nice.

I did these while on a COVID break:

I installed an Alde Flow. A few select 400’s have a 3020 heater but no Flow Box. I asked multiple dealers if they would consider it. I was told it was too hard and too expensive. My in-laws live in OH so I bought the parts in Sugar Creek. Overall, it was not too hard or too expensive.

Put a wedge behind the Cool Cat control so we can see it better

Swapped the exterior light for a yellow, less bright one

Put in a battery back-up to the Alde controller

Put in external temp sensor for the Alde

Shaved the vanes down on the bath fan so they don’t rub the sides

Put in an under sink Hepvo valve and folding brass faucet with sprayer

Right sized the tiny hole inside of the exterior shower head. Now we have much better flow.

Repairs:

Added a new air bleeder to the Alde, ours leaked enough to run us out of fluid in FL last winter

Greased the axles

Put in a new front window (ours had the low internal pressure issue)

Replaced an overhead bin latch

Glued back on a reflector

Things I did before COVID

Installed Tuson electronic sway control

Upgraded the Fantastic Fan to a variable speed model

Added the reverse sliding drawer mod to the top of kitchen drawer

Upgraded the bathroom sink to one the drains better

Put in a TV kill switch and an Amazon Fire Box

Added color gel to some of the lights to make them less harsh

What I learned.

You can’t get all the fluid out of the Alde through the drain hose. You can get a lot of it out if you disconnect the hoses from the expansion tank and blow into them. Blowing in the tubes will get you an additional ¾ of gallon out of the system. This will still leave about a half-gallon in the system.

When refilling, I had good luck bleeding the Alde system by turning both circulation pumps to their highest setting and putting the Alde in constant circulation at the control head. I would run it until it burped. Then I would shut it off and add more fluid. I did this until it stopped burping. Then I turned the pumps down and reset the Alde control panel.

European Alde don’t necessarily come with an auto air bleeder; so don’t pay too much attention to videos from Europe on how to bleed your system. As I said earlier, our bleeder was a bit too aggressive and it started dumping Alde fluid. The only way to replace the bleeder is to drain the system. While traveling, I turned the circulation pump down to about zero. This almost stopped the leak. We had to keep topping up to get home. After I installed the new bleeder as part of my Flow addition, I had both pumps on max to purge the system. The new air bleeder I installed did not release any fluid with the pumps on max. Nevertheless, I turned both pumps down to an 1/8 of a turn above off. The heat and hot water both work fine at this setting.

If you need to replace an Alde fitting or part such as a bleeder, drain as much fluid as you can and then have a shop vac running and SLOWLY work open the fitting you want to replace. You will suck up about a half-gallon of fluid. I put down plastic and paper towels. They caught a couple of drips, but without the vac running, I would have flooded the Alde compartment with glycol. I don’t like the smell. Glad I was careful.

NuCamp has moved away from the style of overhead bin latches we have on our 2018. Probably because they break. Buy some while you can. I could only find them at NuCamp.

There is space behind the Alde control head to easily mount a battery backup.

I am sure some are wondering why I spent all of this time messing about with our camper. Well, partly we have been stuck at home and partly, I enjoy the work. I am capable of doing it, so why not?

I think I’ll make a knife block.

DenisP · August 2020

@Tabulating Nice post. Thank you for the detailed Alde information. My 2018 400 is one with a 3020 without a Flow and have been curious about the benefits of the Flow and whether it was worth adding it. We have been happy with the Hot water output from the Alde as it seems to be matched to our camping style.
Have you had a chance to use the 400 with the Flow upgrade and if so what is the difference.
Thanks Take Care.

Denny16 · August 2020

The Flo is an aux water heater that preheats the water before it enters the main Alde heater, when it gets heated up to the temp set. This results is a continuous flow of hot water, so you could take a longer hot water shower, for example.

If your Alde is keeping up with you hot water demands, than, no real benefit to adding the Flo.

@Tabulating, where did you end up mounting the Flo unit? Could you post some photos of the install? I want to add a a Flo also. Most dealers just do not want to deal with this change, or they think it is going to involve replacing the entire Alde unit. They are just not up on the Alde system and the differences in the 3010 and 3020, which is required for the Flo unit.
cheers

Tabulating · August 2020

The difference in hot water availability is remarkable. It pretty much just runs on forever. After a while it does cool down some, but it is still plenty warm for a long shower. We often camp at full hook-up campgrounds for a week or two. With the new box, we should be able to shower pretty much like we do at home.

I bought all the Alde specific parts in Sugar Creek from NuCamp. I think it was around $700 to $900 total. I didn't use many of the parts I bought. I also bought a variety of really great Swiss Cheeses from the Pearl Valley Cheese Factory and I saw the worlds biggest cuckoo clock.

I mounted the Flow unit in front of the Alde. I built a little platform to set it on. The propane enters the Alde compartment below the Flow unit, hence the platform. I did have to mod the main electrical connector for the Alde to make space for the Flow. Cutting that cord to put on the new plug was a moment. If somehow I couldn't get the new plug on, I would have had to completely demount the entire heater to put in a new cord. But all went well.

DenisP · August 2020

@Tabulating Thanks for the insight and the further detail of your upgrade. Very well done. I can see the advantage in your type of camping, full hookups make sense. We rarely have full hook ups and feel fortunate if we have water and electric. Navy showers have been the norm.

Take care.

Denny16 · August 2020

Yes, thanks for the photos and details.
cheers

Aliase · August 2020

Husband put up a lovely backsplash!

ChrisFix · August 2020

@Aliase
That backsplash looks fantastic...I really like the color too!
Sets off the dark wood cabinets beautifully.

Aliase · August 2020

@ChrisFix thanks! I will show him this for motivation (I want more sweet mods...)

Intrinsic · August 2020

Here is our update to the 2019 400 closet. There is a lot of empty space behind the hanging clothes, so we used some simple iron pipe to make a cantilevered secondary rod. We use this rod to hod up a shoe organizer. This gives us lots of cubbies to organize and store rolled up clothes. This also lets us use the primary hanging rod and the shelves on the left side of the closet.

Photo size reduced - Sharon

johnfconway · September 2020

DougH said:

Next drawer down on Blum undermounts is the ICECO 20. Air intake is right rear and right front of drawer. Exhaust is sealed and goes out side of drawer to the area in pic 2 and then out through the exhaust fan when needed. The ICECO has a separate freezer and fridge and can be controlled (turned on/off, setpoints for both sides) or monitored from the car via Bluetooth.

Beautiful work Doug! Thanks for this. Although I don't have skill level for what you have done, I can see possibility for the space the 3-way occupies in the 400. Just checked height. I think it would be OK using the cabinet bottom as is. Room for shelf above it. May or may not want/need door.

ICECO 20 is a very nice bit of technology. Since it has an AC adapter, do you have it wired for both AC and DC?

DougH · September 2020

@johnfconway I only bothered to hook the ICECO up to DC, since I spend more time without full hookups than with.

With only simple hand tools I couldn't create the beautiful dovetail or perfectly plugged pocket screw craftsmanship I've seen others do (I'm in awe of some people's van builds that come out as true works of art). But I was mostly copying Geomars from the previous year, watched some YouTube videos on making drawers ahead of time, measured twice, and did a little at a time. So you can do so much better in a 400, especially if you can borrow some jigs or go to one of those rental woodworking spaces where they have all the coolest tools. I'd only recommend you find a way to exactly match the finish on the other cabinets before you start. I am so much happier with a 12V compressor fridge versus the original 3way, and it is kinda nice while driving to check the fridge / freezer temperatures and DC voltage level back in the camper with it's strong Bluetooth signal. If you have the funds though, there's plenty of 12V Danfoss compressor units that will fit in the space you've measured that are probably more robust than the ICECO, which I'm guessing won't last that many years.

ADRawli · March 2021

@DougH. Just wondering if you ever got the exact stain information from nüCamp?

DougH · March 2021

@ADRawli Nope. I didn't keep the email I got back from nüCamp, but seem to recall a statement that the cabinets arrive from another vendor and they are not created on site; so they weren't sure exactly what stain / varnish / finish products were used.

Denny16 · March 2021

Why is it on the nüCamp factory tour, the show a cabinet shop,with CNC panel cutting units, with completed cabinets going down a slide to the assembly line below? The Birch cabinet panels they use may be pre-finished on one or both sides. But nüCamp also has a spray booth setup. So hard to tell how they do it, or what they use.
cheers

Basil48192 · March 2021

Already posted these under another heading, but I'm pretty excited about my (hopefully) additional boondocking capacity. I added two, 6V-235AH batteries, an additional suitcase solar panel with new controller and quick-disconnect, and a new Victron battery monitor.

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Denny16 · March 2021

Nice job. However, when you get to your camp site and set up, you need to crack open the cover on the shunt so it can get some air circulation to cool the heat sink on the shunt.
cheers

Basil48192 · March 2021

@Denny16. Thanks for the tip! I did put some large holes in the bottom of that box for ventilation. To be honest, I considered cutting the entire bottom half of the box off because it's really difficult getting the battery box cover on and off. I'm not sure how 'water-proof' the shunt is. I did add some weather stripping to the inside of the tub cover to keep it as dry as possible. What do you think? Thanks in advance!

Denny16 · March 2021

You could drill some large holes in the cover, and put a small marine louver cover over the holes in the cover. This would allow air and prevent any water getting coming it from splashing in from the back of the box. This along with the holes in the bottom would work.

Any water that might get in, will drain out the bottom holes. Air flow will keep everything dryer than a sealed box, which can trap moisture inside the box. The shunt is fairly weather resistant, but not waterproof to the point of being submerged under water.

cheers

Basil48192 · March 2021

@Denny16
Thanks again!

manny · March 2021

I dont have no pics ,but finally went to the (2) 6 volt GC batteries I have a std. tub I had to only remove the 4" sewer hose inside.. tight fit but they work.. I put some wood supports across the btm. steel members.. 235 @20 amp hr. batterys.. added tougue weight I think it will not be problem.. orig 12v interstate lasted almost 5 yrs. my unit is a 2017 mod. build date 7-2016... so if anyone thinking about 2 6volt in a std.tub it works..

Basil48192 · April 2021

@Denny16. Took your advice...just took the cover off and modified the box. Now the top for the battery box is much easier to remove/replace. Thanks again for your input!

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AndreO · May 2021

Hi Folks,
I really enjoy seeing all the creative Mods/upgrades. I've unceremoniously liberated many of these ideas for my 2018 400 however below are ones I've not seen and that I have found have made a real difference for our travels.

1) We found it hard to see over the lip of the shelf to the right of the cabinets so I made it fold down.

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2) I hated having to get down on all fours to use the shelf. So built drawers instead.

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Note: The box to the right is about 5 inches deep and added so as to fit over the wheel well.

3) Because I have a rather large butt and I could not take hitting it against the toilet roll dispenser all the time, I made one of my own that fits above the window, out of the way. I filled the holes from the original with screw covers from a big box store. Also added a battery operated motion sensor light for convenience.

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4) We found the bathroom door pulled out the top hinge destroying the plastic cap. (Honestly putting screws into the side of plywood is considered a poor practice and the plastic cap is only aesthetic.) So I replaced it all the way around with an aluminum "C" channel. I sanded it first then sprayed with a clear lacquer.

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5) Still in the bathroom... The ceiling fan is super cheap and the little nubs that limit the dial broke really quickly. Dirty solution was to drill a hole and put bolts in their place. (Not pretty but much stronger). I also used a marker to make the text readable. I replaced my Fantastic fan for a Maxi which I should have moved in the bathroom. Oh well a future project I guess.

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6) Added more shelves to the back of the clothes cupboard.

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7) Not getting into all the details about the two way fridge and high heat in the 400 while traveling. I added two fans:
One under the fridge to help draw cooler floor air up to the back.
One in the fridge to circulate the air so the front will be as cool as the back... Well cooler anyway!
(The trick to keeping it quiet is isolating the vibration of the fan.)
I also replaced the original fan, that came with the fridge, with a high quality super quite one.
It is sooo much more quiet (Brand: Noctuna 90mm computer fan)

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8) Added a control panel to manage the fans at the foot of the bed. They can be set to run full time or only when the compressor is running. It includes a counter to track when the compressor is running. This has been really helpful in tracking power consumption as the 2-way is one of the biggest power hogs... Especially when the trailer is hot inside.
- The switch on the far left disables the lights when dark.
- The lights only come on when the fan is running (and not disabled by the above switch)
- The rockers control the fans. (blue inside the fridge and red below the fridge)
- The one under the counter disables it so it won't count when on shore power.
- The button on the far right resets the counter.

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9) below is the "RV Level 4 Made by Joe". It's big advantage is that once turned on you can see the level of the trailer in your TV real time via a phone app while you are pulling into your site. (it has pictures and sound to let you now when you are level. Really helpful when you are leveling alone. (Or don't want to yell back and forward to each other)

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This is one of the screens. There is also one for saving your hitch height once you disconnect.
More functions but you can get that info from his site. There are other brands as well.

10) Yup this is a copy but I always hated having the Cool Cat open to dust and rain etc.

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I made many other modes/upgrades but most are copies and variations already posed.
I'm currently working a hopefully lighter version of that great fold down table idea!

Thanks to all who have shared their ideas.

rh5555 · May 2021

@AndreO - amazing stuff! Has me thinking about our next mods. Particularly interested in making the 2-way fridge quieter: Could you add links to the fans used? And the control panel?

BrianZ · May 2021

Denny16 said:

Nice job. However, when you get to your camp site and set up, you need to crack open the cover on the shunt so it can get some air circulation to cool the heat sink on the shunt.
cheers

@Denny16 , Did you really mean the shunt, or the charge controller, which does have a big heat sink? I would think the amount of voltage dropped by the shunt, due to its minimal resistance would be extremely small, such that it won't get hot from the current.
Good point about venting trapped moisture though, in a sealed box with electronics. I coated that little shunt circuit board with a conformal coating to prevent corrosion inside our mounting box, though it's not air tight, and we've never had any issues.

Denny16 · May 2021

Brian Brian, not sure how hot the shunt gets, but it does have a good size heat sink on it. The heat generated would depend on the amount of current going through it. The charge controller also does get warm, and should have air circulation also. Trapped Moisture is the biggie though, and vent holes are always a good idea in small spaces.
cheers

Denny16 · May 2021

@AndreO, I love the first mod you posted of the drop down front on the overhead locker:

How was the front held in place, pocket screws from the bottom shelf to the front bit? Where did you source the locking latch, I like these types of latches, they work very well, and would like to add them to all the overhead cabinets. I had one open up on me recently while going down the road.

cheers

AndreO · June 2021

@Denny16, First let me respond by saying I'm not sure how to reply. Noticed the name in blue but not sure if it is automatic so I just typed it in.

The pocket hole screws are on the top of the shelf. The last one in the corner was... To be polite let's say difficult. I have not filled them in yet regular plugs don't fit.

The really hard part is attaching the piano hing from the botton. It requires a very small hing that mush use #0 screws and is on an odd angle because of the lip below.

I got the hing from Lee Valley tools. Lowes had the screws but could only find the screw driver on Amazon and it cost mucho dollars! The 3/4" deep latch is hard to find but Walmart Canada web site had it and at a good price. It came from China so took a month or so.

Screw-Hole Piano HINGES

LEE Valley Tools

Item 00D5216, 16mm × 780mm Brass Piano Hinge, ea.

Qiilu Slam Latch,Stainless Steel Flush Pull Hatch Latch Slam Latch for RV Marine Boat RV, Hatch Latch Lock

Walmart Canada SKU: 3VMG87SOZ7O7

Make sure you get the 15-23 mm thickness.

Have fun!

Denny16 · June 2021

Thanks Andre for the info. Your mods came out grand.
cheers

schatten · June 2021

Here are my mods. I made a YouTube video.

https://youtu.be/af_SfP3aXv0

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Mods/Upgrades while waiting out social distancing . Please share yours.

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Screw-Hole Piano HINGES

LEE Valley Tools

Qiilu Slam Latch,Stainless Steel Flush Pull Hatch Latch Slam Latch for RV Marine Boat RV, Hatch Latch Lock